Nov. 8: For those who cannot even afford to dream of owning a house, the state-owned Assam State Housing Board (ASHB) has come up with a number of schemes to make that distant dream a reality.

The commissioner of the board, B.C. Barbaruah, said the board will soon begin construction of 18 buildings at Borsojai under its self-financing scheme.

?Under this scheme anyone can apply to us. The only condition is that the applicant should not own any other building in the city,? said Barbaruah.

The proposed houses will be two-storeyed buildings with a plinth area of 600 square feet.

One house will be constructed over a 1.25 katha of land and the housing board will also arrange easy finance for the beneficiaries of the scheme from the Housing Urban Development Corporation (Hudco).

According to officials of the housing board, each house will cost around Rs 12.5 lakh.

?As the prices of fixed assets like land and building have sky rocketed in the city over the past few years, we have introduced these schemes to give some relief to the people who cannot acquire a house,? said Barbaruah.

The schemes that have tailored to suit the needs and means of various income groups.

Some of the housing schemes of the board are for economically weaker section, lower income group, middle income group and some for the high income group.

The commissioner said the board is now concentrating more on the economically weaker section and the lower income groups.

These schemes will target people who do not have the capacity to build a house or own an apartment in the city.

A house of one?s own is an impossible dream for the economically weaker group in the city, who can barely manage to make both ends meet.

The housing board is attempting to make provisions for this section of society to afford an abode within their means.

The state housing board has also taken up the construction of two three-storeyed buildings on 12 bighas of land at Borsojai for the lower income group of Assam government employees under rental housing scheme.

The chairman of the housing board, Kalyan Kumar Gogoi, recently laid the foundation stone of the buildings at Borsojai.

Under this scheme, houses will be provided to government employees in low income groups at a nominal monthly rent of Rs 300 to Rs 400.

Each building will accommodate six families.

Gogoi said the buildings would be constructed within five months, after which the process of selection of beneficiaries will begin.

?We have plans to construct many such buildings in other parts of the city and hope that it will give some respite to the government employees in the lower income group,? the chairman added.

The board has developed housing colonies at Hengerabari, Krishnanagar, Chandmari and Kharghuli in the past.